The present invention generally relates to a vehicle suspension attachment assembly and more particularly, to an attachment assembly which reduces the amount of space required by the overall vehicle suspension while concomitantly allowing for the use of a relatively compliant bushing.
A vehicle suspension assembly is typically deployed proximate to a wheel and is effective to insulate the chassis (e.g., the body rail) of the vehicle from shocks and other noise and/or vibrations which are transmitted from the wheel and which are normally communicated to the chassis through the subframe. Typically, such a suspension includes one or more springs and various other devices which cooperatively achieve the desired insulation and which typically require a relatively large amount of mounting space. Moreover, one type of suspension utilizes a relatively compliant bushing which further desirably isolates the chassis from these vibrations and shocks.
Oftentime the amount of available suspension mounting space is rather limited, particularly in the rear of the vehicle (e.g., the portion of the vehicle opposite of the driver) due to the use of several halfshafts which are required for xe2x80x9crear wheel drivexe2x80x9d and/or xe2x80x9call wheel drivexe2x80x9d operation, the use of a relatively large underbody tub or foldable third row seat and/or body cross members, and the lack of overall packaging space due to other design constraints.
It is therefore desirable to reduce the overall mounting space required by a suspension assembly while reducing the amount of the load which is impressed upon the bushing since such a load requires the use of a relatively stiff bushing which reduces the amount of vibrations and noise which may be xe2x80x9cabsorbedxe2x80x9d by the bushing, thereby increasing the amount of the noise and vibration which is communicated to the vehicle passengers.
It is a first non-limiting advantage of the present invention to provide a vehicle suspension assembly having an attachment assembly which reduces the amount of packaging and/or mounting space required by the vehicle suspension assembly.
It is a second non-limiting advantage of the present invention to provide a vehicle suspension attachment assembly which reduces the amount oft packaging and/or mounting space required by a vehicle suspension assembly and which concomitantly allows for the use of a relatively compliant bushing within the suspension assembly.
It is a third non-limiting advantage of the present invention to provide a vehicle suspension assembly which, in one non-limiting embodiment of the invention, includes a subframe mounting member which is concentrically attached to a spring seat assembly.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a mounting assembly is provided and comprises a spring; a pair of spring seats; and a mounting member which is received by the spring and which is substantially concentric to at least one of the pair of spring seats.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for attaching a vehicle subframe to a body member is provided. The method comprises the steps of providing a spring; attaching the spring to the subframe; providing an attachment member; providing a seat; placing the attachment member through the seat; and coupling the attachment member to the body member.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and by reference to the following drawings.